


Niko

by CVdaring



Series: solangelo drabbles [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Awkwardness, But like its cute, Flirting, I got this from a tumblr prompt, M/M, coffee shop AU, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CVdaring/pseuds/CVdaring
Summary: "Whenever I get coffee at your starbucks you spell my name wrong and it's turned into a challenge to see how wrong you can get it" AU from dailyau on tumblrbut instead it's not starbucks
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: solangelo drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783603
Comments: 8
Kudos: 235





	Niko

After Nico di Angelo reluctantly confessed his past feelings to Percy Jackson, he needed to find a new coffee shop to frequent. 

He didn’t even react poorly to the news, he was supportive if anything, telling Nico he was really proud of him for coming out.  _ Coming out? Gods, I really didn’t think this through.  _ His stomach turned, thinking about how now everyone in their little college kid group was going to know. Nico didn’t tell Hazel yet. Either way, he couldn’t deal with the awkwardness, no matter how one-sided.

Percy didn’t even work at the coffee shop he had been going to, he just always happened to show up every day at the same time as Nico. The only downside to switching shops was that the new one he chose was just a little further from campus.

The first day Nico walked into Coexist Cafe, the scent of freshly-made espresso filled his lungs, much sweeter than the other cafe he’d been going to all year. He was a little embarrassed to admit to himself he liked it. The cafe was pretty quaint, the walls painted a robins egg blue, decorated with framed pictures of Newspaper clippings about LGBT rights, or just generic gay propaganda. Nico found himself smiling at the sight, wondering why he hadn’t tried this place before. There were a couple areas with couches and bookshelves in the corners where a couple people had already taken their seats with laptops on their laps, then a decent line of normal cafe tables along the wall. Then there was the register. 

Two people were stationed behind it, not really looking Nico’s way as he approached the counter. That was okay, he was too busy trying to read the menu above their heads. The Specials Menu was especially hard, the handwriting was chicken scratch. They really shouldn’t have the person with shitty script write it. 

“Oh, hey! Sorry, didn’t see you there!” A voice pulled Nico from mentally reprimanding whoever was in charge at this cafe. When he looked down from the menu, his breath nearly caught in his throat as his eyes met two endless seas of blue. The guy talking to him had to be around his age, at least in college. He was tall, maybe a half a foot taller than Nico on a good day. His golden curls were strewn about on his head in such a way that the only word Nico could think of was  _ beautiful _ , and that didn’t even cover it. He didn’t even look like he was trying to be so damn attractive, it was just how the gods made him. What, with his sapphire eyes, effortlessly placed luminescent locks, sun-kissed tanned skin… Oh, and the worst part?  _ His smile. _ Nico wished he left his goddamn sunglasses on, it was so blinding. That, and the speckling of freckles that casted over the guy’s cheeks and across his cute little nose. Nico wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of tiny angels had actually kissed him for that to happen. 

Luckily, Nico didn’t stare for too long in silence, despite wishing he could stay looking at this barista forever. He cleared his throat, glancing up at the menu once more. “It’s alright, I was just figuring out what I wanted.” 

The barista hummed in response, resting an elbow on the cash register and putting his cheek in his hand. “Take your time. I’m paid hourly.” 

Nico couldn’t help but snort and roll his eyes, but the butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t shut up while he took a couple more seconds to look over the menu. He could feel the barista’s awaiting eyes still locked on him, and honestly he felt a little uncomfortable. Finally Nico returned his gaze. “Uh, Chai Tea Latte please. Iced.” 

Golden Boy (a nickname Nico quickly came up with in his head) drew himself away from leaning on the register, typing in his order. Nico’s eyes flashed to the name tag pinned to his apron.  _ Will. _ It fit him perfectly, somehow. A soft name. And to top it off, right next to a bi pride flag.  _ Nice _ . “What size?” 

“Venti.”

“Aaaalright.” Will grinned, with the slightest hint of a southern drawl, pushing one last button on the register. He held out his hand for Nico’s card, which was quickly given to him. After returning it, Will whipped out a clear venti cup. He pulled a sharpie out from his apron, and glanced back at his customer, the kind and sincere gleam never leaving his eyes. “What about a name for you, huh?”

“Nico.” He really thought about giving a fake name, just to mess with him, but Nico  _ really _ wanted him to know his name. He watched as Will mouthed his name as he scribbled it onto the cup, extenuating every syllable in the dorkiest way… And Nico cursed his brain for having the nerve to find it hot. He cursed Will for being this hot. 

“Alright, Nico, I’ll have that right out for you.” Will said, stepping away from this register and getting started on his drink. Nico busied himself on his phone after scooting over to the side to wait, taking swift glances up to watch Will move around behind the counter. He was whistling to himself as he worked, like there was nothing else he’d rather be doing. 

It didn’t take long for an iced cold chai tea latte to be slid over the counter in his direction. Nico looked up from his screen to see Will smiling kindly at him one again. “You’re all set, Nico.”

Nico’s knees may have turned to putty in that moment, but somehow he stayed upright. He grabbed his drink, about to walk off with a swift  _ thanks--  _ But the name scribbled onto the cup caught his eye. Did this guy really… spell his name with a  _ K _ ?  _ Niko _ ? And in that gods-awful chicken scratch nonetheless. He raised an eyebrow, glancing up at Will, who went back to cleaning up his area with an amused smirk lingering across his face. 

“You spelled my name wrong.” Nico said before he could stop himself. He cringed at the sentence.  _ Gods, it’s an honest mistake, do I have to be so rude?  _

To his surprise, Will laughed, shrugging his shoulders. “Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get it next time.” 

Nico decided to thank him and get out there before he actually ended up saying something stupid. 

Side note though, it was probably the best chai tea he’d ever had… so yeah, there was going to be a next time. 

  
  


~~~~~

  
  


Nico returned the next morning, stumbling in with his eyes barely open. Morning classes were the bane of his existence, who on the gods’ green earth allowed waking up at 8am humanly acceptable? Outrageous. 

Of course,  _ some _ people seem perfectly fine being up that early. Including a certain barista, who made eye contact with Nico as soon as he walked into Coexist Cafe. The blinding smile by itself should have been enough to jar Nico awake. 

“Good morning!” He chimed, cocking his head in a way that made those loose blonde curls fall in front of his eyes. He quickly blew them out of the way. 

Nico swore he was trying to say  _ morning _ back, but it just came out as an exhausted grumble. He sighed, drawing a hand down his face. 

Will chuckled. “Long night?”

“Long  _ life _ .” Nico forced himself to look up at the menu, letting his eyes scan it as Will laughed again. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what he wanted this time. “Salted caramel cold brew, venti. That’s it.” 

“Comin’ right up, Nico!” Will said cheerfully, plugging the order into the register. Nico’s breath catches in his throat at his name. Gods, he  _ remembered _ it? Why would he remember it? He almost forgot to pay as his brain hypothesized why this barista, who probably hears like seventy names a day, would remember specifically his name.  _ Maybe he just has a good memory? _

“You go to Olympia University down the road, right?” Will asked as he was making Nico’s drink, glancing at him over his shoulder. 

Nico almost jumped at the small talk. He wasn’t really the type of guy service workers would engage in small talk with, especially in the morning when he resembled some sort of undead monster. He just wasn’t very… how you say…  _ approachable _ \-- Not that he wanted to be, of course. “Yeah, that’s why I’m up at this ungodly hour.” 

“Really? I  _ totally  _ pegged you for a morning person.” Will replied sarcastically with a laugh. “What’s your major?”

Again, Nico almost lied. He didn’t like strangers knowing about him… but it would be a little counterproductive now. “Art History, minoring in Music Theory… for now, at least. The professors kinda fucking pretentious.” 

Will laughed a little too hard at that, and that just encouraged Nico to keep talking 

“He always goes on about ‘when in doubt, just feel the theory out’. Like what the fuck does that even mean?” Nico griped, almost to himself. Will kept giggling, adding the last finishing touches to Nico’s drink. “What about you, Golden Boy? Do you go to OU?”

Will turned to him, raising an amused eyebrow and drink in hand. “Golden boy, huh?”

Nico shrugged, his face flushing. Wow, he didn’t even realise he said it. He knew his name was Will, he’d just been so taken with calling him golden boy in his head that it just slipped out. He chose not to answer, taking the drink that was held out to him. Nico almost had to do a double take at the name this time. “... Knee-co? Seriously?”

“Damn, didn’t get it this time huh?” Will grinned, crossing his arms. “Guess you’ll have to come in again.” 

Nico furrowed his eyebrows. “You could just ask me how you spell it. I mean, it’s not that hard.”

“What’s the fun in that?” Will asked, but it was rhetorical. 

Nico rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He couldn’t really tell if he was being messed with or Mr. Sunshine over here was just a beautiful idiot. Maybe both. 

Will threw him one cheerful “have fun in class!” on Nico’s way out.

  
  


~~~~~~

  
  


“N-e-a-k-o? You’re really missing the mark here.” 

“Damn, I was sure that was it.”

  
  


~~~~~~

  
  


“Will, how did you even get a Q in here?? What the hell do you think my name is??”

“The Q is silent?” 

  
  


~~~~~~

  
  


“This is just a bunch of random letters. It’s not even a word, where’s the vowel?” 

“I’ll get it eventually.”

  
  


~~~~~~

  
  


“Wait, why are we studying at the cafe this time? You  _ never _ go to a public place to study.” Nico’s roommate, Frank, asked as they came up to the door of Coexist Cafe. It was around 5pm on a Friday, after both of their classes were done for the day. After the last couple weeks of insufferable incorrect spellings of his name, Nico had a very distinct map of Will’s schedule in his head, so he knew he’d be working today. 

“Because you don’t believe me!” Nico said as he yanked open the door. He lowered his voice when they walked inside. “I’m telling you, he gets my name wrong every time. Last week, I swear he just wrote TER, and when I asked he said it stood for  _ The Emo Regular.” _

Frank clicked his tongue, avoiding Nico’s eyes. “Well he wouldn’t be wrong…” 

Nico whacked his arm half-heartedly as the both strode up to the register. No one was in sight at first, but when Nico cleared his throat, Will’s goofy head popped up from beneath the counter. His sapphire eyes lit up the moment he saw Nico as he jumped to his feet. 

“Hey, there’s my favorite customer!” He chimed happily, then his eyes scanned over to Frank. “And hey Frank!” 

“Oh wait,  _ this  _ Will?” Frank looked at Nico, surprised. “Will Sol--” 

Will cut him off with a nervous laugh. “ _ Anyways _ , what can I get you two today?”   
  


Nico gave them both incredulous looks, mouth hanging agape. “Wait, you two know each other? How the hell?” 

“He was in Hazel’s and my biology class last year, he’s one of Annabeth’s friends.” Frank turned to Nico. “Remember when we didn’t go to the Christmas party this year where everyone got so drunk that they were out of commission for two days? And afterwards everyone had mentioned in the groupchat getting a certain  _ Will  _ a fruit basket for taking care of them because he was the only one that stayed sober?” 

Oh gods, did Nico remember that. Hazel, Frank, and him had left early to spend Christmas with the rest of the di Angelos, and after hearing about that he was glad he did. It was unfortunate he missed meeting Will earlier though. The memory of the story was honestly kind of funny. 

“Wait…” Nico said slowly, before erupting into stifled giggles and looking back over at Will, who at this point was holding his face in his hands. “You’re the-- You’re the Will that Percy threw up on like three times??”

Will put a hand over his own mouth, groaning. “Please don’t remind me, I had to throw out those shoes.” 

“Plus!” Frank went on, grinning along with his roommate. “His dad is--” 

“Oh my gods, please just tell me your orders.” Will pleaded, hitting his head against the register. 

Nico couldn’t help but chuckle through his order. The whole time he knew Will, even though it was just a couple weeks, he had always been so charming. So carefree. Now all Nico could think about was Will frantically tending to six bedridden college students with puke on his shoes, which admittedly was sweet of him for even trying. It made him seem more human. 

Will hesitated before writing on his cup this time, but Nico didn’t know why.

They made small talk with Will as he fixed up their coffees, just chatting about what him and Nico usually chat about. School, how annoying Nico’s Music Theory professor was, occasionally mythomagic. Frank didn’t really add much, he seemed to be too busy watching Nico interact with Will, and Nico had the urge to punch the knowing grin off his future brother-in-law’s face. He had to keep reminding himself that his crush (that’s what it was right, a crush?) on Will was only obvious to Frank because he spent so much time with him. He can't be that fucking obvious, he ends every interaction by reprimanding Will about how he spelled his name. He’s not exactly nice about it.

“Alright, let’s see the damage this time.” Nico said dryly as Will slid both him and Frank their drinks. Nico noticed his face seemed a little… Nervous this time around. He didn’t even look him in the eye. Nico decided to ignore that and turned the cup around in his hand to stumble upon a little bit more than he expected. 

_ Nico di Angelo _

And a phone number. 

“H…” And suddenly Nico was at a loss for words. How did he... Nico expected something stupid like N33K0 or something, like every time. And what the everloving fuck was this phone number? “Wait. You got it. You actually fucking got it.” 

Frank peered over his shoulder, studying the chicken scratch. “So were you lying this whole time, Nico? Of course he knows your name.” He paused, squinting his eyes. “Also… I think you’re missing a very important detail here.” 

Nico straight up ignored him, pointlessly showing Will the cup. “Why the fuck did it take you so long to spell this four letter word? Were you messing with me this whole time?” 

“I wouldn’t say I was messing with you, really.” Will chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. 

Nico paused, trying to figure out what that meant, when finally one of the two important things dawned on him. Only one though, or else his brain might have overloaded. He looked back at the writing, then up at Will once more. “I didn’t tell you my last name.”

“You sure didn’t.” Will held out a hand towards Nico. “The full name’s Will Solace. You might know my father.” 

His father?  _ HIS FATHER. _ Of course. The one and only Dr. Solace… Or as Nico was forced to call him during school hours, Professor Solace. The Music Theory Professor. 

Nico mindlessly shook his hand, dazed at the revelation. “You have been letting me just shit talk your dad this whole time?” 

Will laughed. “No, he’s kind of a pretentious dick in class. You are well within your right to shit talk him, be my guest. But uh… I might have sat in for some of his classes. And you might have been in a few of them. So yeah, I knew your name this whole time.” He released his hand, beginning to tap his two index fingers together. 

“Then why have you been torturing me like this, Solace?”  _ Finally _ Nico can call him by his last name, just like he does with all his friends.  _ Are they friends?  _

“Just to give you a reason to come back.” 

Somehow that struck Nico more than learning Will was his professor’s son.  _ He _ wanted _ Nico _ to come back? Nico di Angelo? No way, that’s not possible. Sure, Nico’s tight group of friends tried to tell him every day that it was possible, but what can he say? He hadn’t made a new friend in years, he was nearly convinced everyone else was saying around him out of convenience. 

It took a moment for Nico to open his mouth to speak again. “But you stopped today.” 

Will’s eyes widened. “Wait, no! That doesn’t mean I want you to stop coming in! It’s just now… I gave you a way for me to possibly see you again. You know, outside of a coffee shop.”

And there was that second important thing Nico had pushed to the side of his brain. He glanced back at the cup. The phone number.  _ Will’s phone number. _

Nico’s silence must’ve made the barista panic, because suddenly he was frantically waving his hands out in front of him. “I mean, if you want! It’s not really a big deal!”

“Wait, no! I want. Yes. Okay.” Nico cringed at his pathetically broken English, but the sigh of relief Will blew out made it worth it. “I’ll text you.”    
  
“Okay!” Will grinned. 

“Okay.” 

Frank took an incredibly long sip of his coffee before also letting out a relieved sigh. “I want to let you two know, this was very painful to watch.” 

“Shut up, Frank.”

**Author's Note:**

> Coexist Cafe was a cafe that closed down where I used to live so im honoring it in here. love these boys


End file.
